Modulate This! - A Blog for Electronic Music Artists

Modulate This! - Best of 2009 Electronic Music Tech

Despite the economic downturn, 2009 was thankfully a huge year when it came to new technology for electronic music artists. Rather than try and cover every significant release, I’ll instead list some of my favorite products and notable trends.

The Year of Ableton
What a big year for Ableton. Live 8 with great new features set, Max for Live, 10th Anniversary of Ableton, launch of Live Intro, dedicated hardware controllers (APC40 & Launchpad). Awesome!

Grid (Matrix) Controllers
 

Grid controllers everywhere in 2009. New controllers like the APC40, Launchpad and Bliptronics 5000. Continued development with existing controllers like Tenori-On and Monome. The grid metaphor also became quite prevalent in apps as well. I have the APC40 and Tenori-On and simply love them.

Percussa Audio Cubes “Tangible Interface”
 

Not new in 2009 but new to me, Percussa AudioCubes are self-powered wireless computer systems. Cubes can detect and interact with each other and can detect the proximity of your hand near a cube face sensor and send this controller information to your DAW or to various free software apps provided by Percussa. I working with a 4 cube configuration within Ableton Live.

Fantastic Synths
A great year for virtual instruments. Below is a list of new and updates synths that I used over and over again in 2009 for both sound design and for music performance.

• u-he ACE (Any Cable Anywhere)
  
  This synth just released by I use it all the time now! It’s a fantastic virtual analog synth with a great UI with patch cables. Sounds like butta’.

Get the Scoop on the New Nano, iPod Touch, and iTunes 8

Apple announced a new iPod Touch, a new line of Nano's called nano-chromatic, and an update to iTunes. I've waded through the online announcement and have created a summary of what's new over on my other blog www.consciousendeavor.net.

Mark Mosher
www.modulatethis.com

iDrum - Making Beats on the iPhone and iTouch

Now that Apple has opened up application development for the iPhone and iTouch, music applications are starting to popup making the iPhone and iTouch potential choices for mobile music making.

One such application is the new iDrum for iPhone.  It's sold in two editions, Hip Hop, and Club. "Each edition includes 20 unique kits made up of dozens of patterns and samples!" Each edition is only $4.99 and is available on the app store. The YouTube video above gives you a good sense of how the application works.

Probably the coolest thing about iDrum for iPhone is that it integrates with the iZotope's iDrum for the PC or Mac so you can share samples and take kits on the road.

Here is a list of features from the iZotope web site.

• Customize patterns to create your own unique beats
• Includes extensive library of amazing sounds
• Take control of the rhythm of every drum sound and sample 
• Tap the touch screen to play and record your own musical patterns
• Easily turn your beats into ringtones for your iPhone (requires free iDrum Ringtone Sync application for your Mac or PC.)

Mark Mosher
www.modulatethis.com
www.markmoshermusic.com

Superman, Cars, Pirates of the Caribbean - soundtracks on iTunes

Summer movie season is in full swing. I always enjoy this time of year because summer release movies have enormous budgets, and as a result, the scores in the films are usually done by big names and extremely well produced.

If you walk out of the theater and can't get that song out of your head and simply must have it, I recommend you check out iTune's soundtrack section where you can Download thousands of soundtracks on iTunes.

I recently saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest which was scored by Hanz Zimmer. If you want to a glimpse into the work life of Hanz Zimmer, check out this video I found on his web site.(Windows Media Clip). You can also check out his web site here http://www.hans-zimmer.com.

iTunes 6.0 has released and iTunes now carries over 2,000 music videos

Seems like only yesterday iTunes 5.0 came out - oh yeah it was last month - and now iTunes 6.0 is here! Those engineers at Apple must never sleep.

Well, it's clear that the release of iTunes and it's enhanced support for video is releated to the new video capable iPods. I mean what good is an iPod that plays video unless you have some content. So, iTunes now has videos for sale. For example, I just got into Lost (yeah, I know, I'm a year behind). You can get episodes on iTunes :^).

Here is the list of what's new in 6.0.

• Music Videos at the iTunes Music Store -browse more than 2,000 (you can play them straight out of iTunes and don't need a video capable ipod). They cost $1.99.
• TV Shows - Download full seasons or the latest episodes. Seems like only certain networks are on board right now.
• Customer Reviews - Post your own reviews and ratings and read what others are saying
• Buy and send music and videos as gifts with iTunes gift certificates.

Of course, since 4.9 you can also:

• Sample and subscribe to thousands of free podcasts at the iTunes Music Store.

And you can still:

• Download thousands of popular radio programs on iTunes.

For those who have not tried it, click the banner below to give it a try - I think you'll like it. Best of all, its free!

Video iPod Announced

Apple just announced a new iPod which can play video!!! Check it out here http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html.

The new model is lighter and thinner and comes in 30GB and 60GB models starting at $299.

With support for up to 150 hours of video and a 2.5-inch color display, the new iPod lets you take music videos and TV shows on the road.

iTunes 5.0 has released

Apple just released a new version of iTunes - Version 5. It's free and you can get it here http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

New in iTunes 5

• New Look  A streamlined design and new features make iTunes even easier to use.
• Search Bar Find stuff fast and refine your search with the handy new Search Bar.
• Parental Controls Limit kids’ access in iTunes.
• Playlist Folders Organize all your playlists into folders.
• Smart Shuffle Adjust random playback to hear what you want.
• Sync from Outlook Sync Outlook and Outlook Express contacts & calendars to iPod.